in-crop-weather State Indiana Crop Weather Week Ending Date June 2, 2002 Issue IN-CW2202 Agricultural Summary Planting of corn and soybeans moved at a rapid pace last week as farmers were working long hours to catch up with fieldwork, according to the Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service. Showers and isolated thunderstorms moved through portions of the state hindering field activities in some areas. Planting conditions have varied widely around the state and many farmers have planted crops in less than ideal soil conditions. Wet spots and standing water remain a problem in some fields. Corn planting is 18 days behind average. Soybean planting is 20 days behind the average pace. Weeds remain a major problem in many fields. Field Crops Report There were 4.8 days suitable for fieldwork. Seventy-five percent of the corn acreage is planted compared with 100 percent last year and 98 percent for the 5-year average. By area, 85 percent of the corn acreage is planted in the north, 72 percent in the central regions and 61 percent in the south. Forty percent of the corn acreage has emerged compared with 100 percent a year earlier. Emerged corn is improving, aided by sunshine and warmer weather. Forty-five percent of the intended soybean acreage is planted compared with 98 percent a year ago and 89 percent for the average. By area, 59 percent of the soybean acreage is planted in the north, 42 percent in the central regions and 23 percent in the south. Eighteen percent of the soybean acreage has emerged compared with 94 percent a year earlier. Other activities during the week included tilling soils, spraying, applying fertilizer, moving grain to market, hauling manure, cutting hay and taking care of livestock. Eighty-eight percent of the winter wheat acreage is headed compared with 100 percent last year and 92 percent for the average. Winter wheat condition is rated 57 percent good to excellent, same as last week, but below the 66 percent a year ago at this time. First cutting of alfalfa hay is 33 percent complete compared with 45 percent last year and 46 percent for the 5-year average. Transplanting of tobacco is 24 percent complete compared with 46 percent last year and 40 percent for the average. Livestock, Pasture and Range Report Pasture condition is rated 22 percent excellent, 61 percent good, 15 percent fair and 2 percent poor. Livestock are in mostly good condition. Spring calving is nearing completion. Crop Progress Table -------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5-Year Crop : Week : Week : Year : Avg -------------------------------------------------------- Percent Corn Planted 75 43 100 98 Corn Emerged 40 13 100 NA Soybeans Planted 45 19 98 89 Soybeans Emerged 18 4 94 NA Winter Wheat Headed 88 78 100 92 Tobacco Plants Set 24 10 46 40 Alfalfa First Cutting 33 14 45 46 Crop Condition Table -------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Excel- Crop : Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : lent -------------------------------------------------------- Percent Corn 2 9 44 43 2 Pasture 0 2 15 61 22 Winter Wheat 2002 2 10 31 47 10 Soil Moisture & Days Suitable For Fieldwork Table ------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : Week : Week : Year ------------------------------------------------------- Percent Topsoil Very Short 0 0 1 Short 2 0 3 Adequate 61 53 72 Surplus 37 47 24 Subsoil Very Short 0 0 5 Short 0 0 19 Adequate 62 53 66 Surplus 38 47 10 Days Suitable 4.8 4.3 2.2 Contact information --Ralph W. Gann, State Statistician --Bud Bever, Agricultural Statistician E-Mail Address: nass-in@nass.usda.gov http://www.nass.usda.gov/in/index.htm Other Agricultural Comments And News SUPPLEMENTAL FORAGE CROPS TO FILL A VOID * Livestock producers may want to consider supplemental forage crops if: alfalfa was damaged by winter, perennial forage seedings were not completed, corn silage inventory is low and corn planting with intended use as silage is delayed, and prevented planting acres become a reality. Mother Nature has provided some challenges to livestock producers in Indiana this year. Winter damage to alfalfa was more common in 2002 than most years. Persistent spring rain has delayed perennial forage seedings to the point that many producers have opted to keep the seed in the bag until August. Livestock producers that utilize corn silage and find themselves with a less than desirable inventory of the 2001 corn crop in the silo are concerned about delayed corn planting as that translates into a late corn silage harvest, too. If spring rain remains persistent there will be much prevented planting acreage that is a candidate for a cover crop. My top candidates for late May or June seeding as emergency use forages, with which I have had some experience, include the warm-season annual grasses sudangrass, sorghum x sudangrass hybrid, pearlmillet, or foxtail millet. Harvesting these crops as silage or by grazing is preferred as curing time is long and rain damage risk is high when harvested as hay. Brown midrib sorghum x sudangrass hybrids should be expected to have greater digestible dry matter than normal hybrids. A forage turnip, a forb (neither a grass nor a legume), that puts more growth into the leaf rather than the root would be a candidate where grazing is the method of harvest. For detailed information, refer to Purdue Extension publication AY-263, "Producing Emergency or Supplemental Forage for Livestock." It is available online at:: . Keith Johnson, Department of Agronomy, Purdue University. BALE SILAGE MAKES SENSE IN YEARS LIKE THIS * Use of bale wrappers and in-line tubers can be an excellent tool to help with timeliness of hay harvest, especially in a wet and cool spring * Forage-livestock producers should evaluate whether bale silage is a good option * Large round balers appropriate for silage and an in-line tuber will be at Purdue Forage Day It is more common today than a few years ago to see individual large round hay bales or long rows of hay bales wrapped in white plastic. A few Indiana forage producers have enlisted an option of making their forage into bale silage instead of dry hay. Instead of letting the cut forage crop dry to a safe-to-bale moisture level of the high teens (less than 20 percent moisture), as dry hay, they are packaging the plastic wrapped bales at around 50 percent moisture. The 50 percent moisture concentration coupled with a good quality crop and the creation of an anaerobic environment with the plastic wrap, results in fermentation and preservation of the forage crop. These producers invested in this strategy of forage harvest to help them better manage, or frankly go to battle, with Mother Nature. Wilting the crop to 50 percent moisture instead of less than 20 percent moisture results in less exposure of the cut forage to a rainfall threat. This reduction of a rainfall occurrence on cut forage is especially true with the first forage harvest in May. Many producers opt to not cut their forage crop if rainy weather within a three-day time frame is predicted; as a result, forage quality will decline with the passage of time as the crop matures in the field. Use of the technology does not come without a cost. Obviously, there is cost associated with the purchase of the wrapper or tuber, and plastic. This type of forage is best-used on-farm, as transport of high moisture bale silage will cost more per ton of dry matter than "dry" hay. One also has to deal with disposal of used plastic. I am convinced that a wrapper or in-line tuber can be co-owned among amiable individuals; obviously, this makes the technology more affordable to small-and mid-sized forage acreage producers. The Feldun-Purdue Ag Center and the Southern Indiana Purdue Ag Center have effectively shared an in-line tuber and have prevented much hay from rainfall deterioration. The distance between these two Centers is 60 miles. Use of a wrapper or in-line tuber would usually be shared between or among producers at a distance much less than this. Forage producers are encouraged to come to the Purdue Forage Day on, Thursday, June 13 to have discussion with industry representatives about round balers designed to package silage bales and an in-line tuber. Equipment will be demonstrated in the afternoon at the Purdue Forage Day. This year's activity is at the Milco Dairy Farm in southern Henry Co. Specific information about the field day can be found by visiting or by contacting your local Purdue Cooperative Extension Service Educator. Keith Johnson, Department of Agronomy, Purdue University. Weather Information Table Week Ending Sunday June 2, 2002 --------------------------------------------------------------- | Past Week Weather Summary Data |--------------------------------- Station | Air | | Avg | Temperature | Precip. |4 in. |---------------|-----------|Soil |Hi |Lo |Avg|DFN|Total |Days|Temp ------------------------------------------------------------- Northwest (1) | Valparaiso_AP_I |92 48 71 +7 0.14 2 Wanatah |92 48 70 +8 0.13 2 70 Wheatfield |93 44 71 +7 0.36 1 Winamac |91 50 71 +6 0.01 1 71 North Central(2)| Chalmers_5W |95 41 72 +6 0.10 2 Plymouth |89 42 69 +4 0.02 1 South_Bend |87 48 69 +6 0.13 2 Young_America |90 50 72 +7 0.88 2 Northeast (3) | Columbia_City |87 44 69 +6 0.03 2 65 Fort_Wayne |89 47 70 +6 1.07 3 West Central (4)| Greencastle |86 47 69 +2 1.16 4 Perrysville |93 48 72 +6 0.82 3 71 Terre_Haute_AFB |89 52 72 +5 2.65 6 W_Lafayette_6NW |94 50 72 +8 0.53 4 73 Central (5) | Brookville |88 51 71 +6 1.63 4 Eagle_Creek_AP |88 51 72 +5 0.60 5 Greenfield |87 51 71 +5 0.33 3 Indianapolis_AP |88 55 72 +5 1.03 4 Indianapolis_SE |86 49 71 +4 0.31 4 Tipton_Ag |90 40 70 +5 0.53 2 70 East Central (6)| Farmland |88 47 70 +6 0.19 4 67 New_Castle |87 41 67 +3 1.09 3 Southwest (7) | Evansville |90 60 74 +5 0.56 2 Freelandville |88 51 73 +6 0.55 3 Shoals |88 50 72 +6 0.94 2 Stendal |90 54 74 +6 0.22 2 Vincennes_5NE |89 51 73 +5 0.69 5 South Central(8)| Spencer_Ag |88 50 71 +5 1.00 5 Tell_City |91 61 76 +8 1.17 2 Southeast (9) | Milan_5NE |84 46 69 +4 1.74 4 Scottsburg |88 51 72 +5 0.58 3 ------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- | Accumulation | April 1, 2002 thru Station | June 2, 2002 | Precipitation |GDD Base 50oF | | | | | |Total | DFN |Days|Total| DFN ------------------------------------------------------------- Northwest (1) | Valparaiso_AP_I | 10.05 +1.96 25 450 +4 Wanatah | 10.42 +2.73 27 396 -1 Wheatfield | 8.80 +1.32 25 438 +14 Winamac | 8.89 +1.42 30 422 -50 North Central(2)| Chalmers_5W | 8.11 +0.33 30 453 -85 Plymouth | 10.13 +2.21 29 388 -108 South_Bend | 8.97 +1.69 30 416 -8 Young_America | 9.03 +1.56 27 499 +30 Northeast (3) | Columbia_City | 9.34 +1.93 28 396 +1 Fort_Wayne | 10.03 +2.98 27 491 +43 West Central (4)| Greencastle | 15.19 +6.51 29 498 -89 Perrysville | 13.55 +5.36 31 529 +9 Terre_Haute_AFB | 23.71 +15.10 34 644 +63 W_Lafayette_6NW | 12.76 +4.92 32 508 +33 Central (5) | Brookville | 15.48 +6.73 27 582 +103 Eagle_Creek_AP | 12.17 +4.23 30 600 +30 Greenfield | 13.38 +4.84 33 543 +21 Indianapolis_AP | 13.15 +5.21 27 641 +71 Indianapolis_SE | 13.49 +5.11 25 553 +5 Tipton_Ag | 11.02 +3.06 29 468 +32 East Central (6)| Farmland | 10.97 +3.34 34 485 +64 New_Castle | 13.15 +4.38 26 409 -25 Southwest (7) | Evansville | 14.28 +5.25 26 836 +98 Freelandville | 15.61 +6.42 25 664 +51 Shoals | 16.31 +6.65 25 623 +33 Stendal | 16.72 +6.78 24 740 +71 Vincennes_5NE | 16.41 +7.22 26 699 +86 South Central(8)| Spencer_Ag | 16.68 +7.58 34 529 +6 Tell_City | 14.63 +4.75 20 890 +204 Southeast (9) | Milan_5NE | 18.20 +9.45 32 498 +19 Scottsburg | 16.12 +7.22 28 640 +24 ------------------------------------------------------------- DFN = Departure From Normal (Using 1961-90 Normals Period). GDD = Growing Degree Days. Precipitation (Rainfall or melted snow/ice) in inches. Precipitation Days = Days with precip of .01 inch or more. Air Temperatures in Degrees Fahrenheit. Copyright 2002: AWIS, Inc. All rights reserved. The above weather information is provided by AWIS, Inc. For detailed ag weather forecasts and data visit the AWIS home page at www.awis.com or call toll free at 1-888-798-9955. The INDIANA CROP WEATHER REPORT (USPS 675-770), (ISSN 0442-817X) is issued weekly April through November by the Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service, 1435 Win Hentschel Blvd, Suite B105, West Lafayette IN 47906-4145. Second Class postage paid at Lafayette IN. For information on subscribing, send request to above address. POSTMASTER: Send address change to the Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service, 1435 Win Hentschel Blvd, Suite B105, West Lafayette IN 47906-4145. Source: Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service